Windows Overview

Bini.js allows you to build native Windows desktop applications using Tauri v2. Your React app is wrapped in a WebView2 binary, providing a native experience with full system access.

Requirements

Building Windows desktop apps requires different tools depending on your operating system. See the section for your OS below.

• On Windows: Node.js, Microsoft C++ Build Tools, the WebView2 Runtime, and Rust - everything runs locally.
• On macOS or Linux: Node.js, Git, a GitHub account, and the ability to push a repo. The Windows build itself runs on GitHub Actions.

Windows

On Windows you can scaffold, develop, and build the app entirely on your own machine - no CI required.

Step 1: Install the tools

• Node.js 20.19.0 or higher
• Microsoft C++ Build Tools - Download (install the "Desktop development with C++" workload)
• Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime - Download
• Rust via rustup

Step 2: Create the project

Create the Project

Create a new Bini.js project targeting Windows and install its dependencies:

$ npx create-bini-app@latest my-app --platform windows
$ cd my-app
$ npm install

Or use the interactive prompt and select Windows Desktop:

$ npx create-bini-app@latest

? Select target platform:
Web Application
> Windows Desktop
Linux Desktop
macOS Desktop
Android
iOS
 
↑↓ navigate • ⏎ select

Step 3: Develop and build

Run tauri:dev to open your app in a native window, then tauri:build to produce the executable and installer:

$ npx create-bini-app@latest my-app --platform windows
$ cd my-app
$ npm install
$ npm run tauri:dev
$ npm run tauri:build

macOS

A native Windows .exe cannot be produced on macOS - Tauri relies on Windows-only toolchains (MSVC, WebView2, WiX/NSIS). The Tauri team's own recommendation is to build Windows apps on a windows-latest runner in CI.

Step 1: Install the tools

Install Node.js 20.19.0 or higher and Git. Git comes with the Xcode command line tools - run xcode-select --install if you do not have it yet.

Step 2: Create the project

Create the Project

Create a new Bini.js project targeting Windows and install its dependencies:

$ npx create-bini-app@latest my-app --platform windows
$ cd my-app
$ npm install

Or use the interactive prompt and select Windows Desktop:

$ npx create-bini-app@latest

? Select target platform:
Web Application
> Windows Desktop
Linux Desktop
macOS Desktop
Android
iOS
 
↑↓ navigate • ⏎ select

Add the Build Workflow

The scaffold does not ship with a GitHub Actions workflow. You need to add one manually. Create the file .github/workflows/build-windows.yml inside your project with the following content:

# .github/workflows/build-windows.yml
name: Build Windows App

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  build-windows:
    runs-on: windows-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      - name: Install Rust
        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
        with:
          targets: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install

      - name: Build Tauri app
        uses: tauri-apps/tauri-action@v0
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        with:
          tagName: app-v__VERSION__
          releaseName: 'App v__VERSION__'
          releaseDraft: true

Push to GitHub

Run npm run deploy and choose Windows. This initializes the repo, commits, and pushes everything to GitHub in one step:

$ npm run deploy

Once pushed, the workflow runs on a real Windows runner and builds the installer.

Download the Installer

1. Open your repository on GitHub and go to the Actions tab.
2. Open the latest Build Windows App run.
3. Under Artifacts, download windows-build. Or, if a release was created, download the .exe / .msi from the Releases page.

Linux

A native Windows .exe cannot be produced on Linux - Tauri relies on Windows-only toolchains (MSVC, WebView2, WiX/NSIS). The Tauri team's own recommendation is to build Windows apps on a windows-latest runner in CI.

Step 1: Install the tools

Install Node.js 20.19.0 or higher and Git with your package manager, for example sudo apt install git on Debian and Ubuntu.

Step 2: Create the project

Create the Project

Create a new Bini.js project targeting Windows and install its dependencies:

$ npx create-bini-app@latest my-app --platform windows
$ cd my-app
$ npm install

Or use the interactive prompt and select Windows Desktop:

$ npx create-bini-app@latest

? Select target platform:
Web Application
> Windows Desktop
Linux Desktop
macOS Desktop
Android
iOS
 
↑↓ navigate • ⏎ select

Add the Build Workflow

The scaffold does not ship with a GitHub Actions workflow. You need to add one manually. Create the file .github/workflows/build-windows.yml inside your project with the following content:

# .github/workflows/build-windows.yml
name: Build Windows App

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  build-windows:
    runs-on: windows-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      - name: Install Rust
        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
        with:
          targets: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install

      - name: Build Tauri app
        uses: tauri-apps/tauri-action@v0
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        with:
          tagName: app-v__VERSION__
          releaseName: 'App v__VERSION__'
          releaseDraft: true

Push to GitHub

Run npm run deploy and choose Windows. This initializes the repo, commits, and pushes everything to GitHub in one step:

$ npm run deploy

Once pushed, the workflow runs on a real Windows runner and builds the installer.

Download the Installer

1. Open your repository on GitHub and go to the Actions tab.
2. Open the latest Build Windows App run.
3. Under Artifacts, download windows-build. Or, if a release was created, download the .exe / .msi from the Releases page.

Development

Running tauri:dev opens your app in a native Windows window. This requires a Windows machine with the requirements installed (see the Windows section):

$ npm run tauri:dev

This launches your app in a native Windows window with:

• Hot reload for frontend changes
• Native window with system tray support
• Access to Windows APIs
• Devtools for debugging

Building

Build a distributable Windows executable. On Windows this runs locally; on macOS and Linux it runs in GitHub Actions (see those sections):

$ npm run tauri:build

The build outputs land in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/:

Output Files

• nsis/*.exe - NSIS installer (recommended for distribution)
• msi/*.msi - WiX MSI installer
• release/my-app.exe - The raw executable (before bundling)

Code Signing

Bini.js supports Authenticode code signing for Windows binaries. Configure signing in src-tauri/tauri.conf.json:

{
  "bundle": {
    "windows": {
      "certificateThumbprint": "YOUR_CERT_THUMBPRINT",
      "digestAlgorithm": "sha256",
      "timestampUrl": "http://timestamp.digicert.com"
    }
  }
}

For GitHub Actions, store the certificate and password as secrets and reference them in the workflow. The tauri-action step reads them from environment variables:

GitHub Actions workflow with signing

# .github/workflows/build-windows.yml
name: Build Windows App

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  build-windows:
    runs-on: windows-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      - name: Install Rust
        uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
        with:
          targets: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install

      - name: Build Tauri app
        uses: tauri-apps/tauri-action@v0
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        with:
          tagName: app-v__VERSION__
          releaseName: 'App v__VERSION__'
          releaseDraft: true